Armstrong tops list of city's largest water usersBicyclist, lobbyist, techie and musician use more water than mostBy Marty TooheyAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFFriday, August 15, 2008Every minute, about five gallons of water passed through the sinks, sprinklers, fountain and pool at Lance Armstrong's house in June, making the retired professional cyclist Austin's biggest water-using individual that month.A total of 222,900 gallons of water was used at Armstrong's home, according to the most recent city records available. That's about what 26 average Austin households use in a month. At a time when rainfall has been scarce and the city has imposed mandatory water restrictions, Armstrong is not the only Austinite using a lot of water.The list of the top 10 water users reads like a cross-section of Austin culture: prominent lobbyist Neal "Buddy" Jones ranks third, tech executive Marc Hafner seventh and health-care magnate Robert Girling eighth. Country singer Jerry Jeff Walker rounds out the top 10. Among them, they used about 1.55 million gallons of water — enough to fill an enclosed football field 31/2 feet deep.The original top 10 list included two people who used large amounts of water because of unusual circumstances — a broken pipe and a pool that was inadvertently left cycling water while the owner was on vacation — and don't have a history of high bills, according to the city. They were dropped from the story at the city's request.The people on the modified top 10 list who were reached for this story offered as explanations: a broken water pipe, lack of knowledge of their high usage or both.Armstrong said he didn't know just how much water he was using."I'm a little shocked," he said when told about the water use at his 1.1-acre home, which has a pool and expansive lawns. "There's no justification for using that much water."Armstrong, who has been in California since early June, said that the electric bills seemed high when he moved in several years ago but that high water usage had not been called to his attention. His finances, including bills, are handled by a management company.In June, his water bill, which does not include wastewater or other utilities, was $1,630.23, according to Austin Water Utility."I need to fix this," Armstrong said. "To use that much more water (than most residents) is unacceptable. I have no interest in being the top water user in Austin, Texas."As Austin's population continues to grow, city officials worry about the availability of water. The city is planning to open a new treatment plant near Lake Travis to provide more water, but that won't happen until 2014.In the meantime, the city's water demand will exceed its supply unless residents continue conserving, said Daryl Slusher, a former City Council member who now leads the water utility's conservation department.Last year, the city imposed mandatory year-round water restrictions. Residents can't water their lawns between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., to avoid evaporation. Everyone except single-family homeowners can water only twice a week. And even those homes can use sprinklers only twice a week from May 1 to Sept. 30. Hand watering is not restricted.Dan Strub, the water conservation program coordinator, said the restrictions have made a difference. Austin's collective water use reached its highest mark of the year on Sunday at 219 million gallons, he said, but the water utility does not declare a shortage until 270 million gallons are used in a day."We are not in any danger of reaching that," Strub said.Austin's tech companies are the city's biggest water users.The microchip manufacturing process requires massive amounts of water, and Samsung was easily the biggest commercial user in June, having consumed 109.8 million gallons. Spansion was next, followed by Freescale Semiconductor's Ed Bluestein Boulevard and Oak Hill locations.Of the top residential water users, all but one live on the western side of town, and some of them live large.Jones built his 14,475-square-foot hillside home in 1998. He is traveling this week and is unreachable, his assistant said.Walker lives in a Clarksville home that has nearly 10,000 square feet. He did not return messages left with him through his assistant.Neither did John Bird (who used 148,800 gallons at his 2-acre East Austin home), Hafner (who used 143,700 gallons at his 1-acre property) or Sherry West (who used 135,500 gallons at her 1-acre home).Bettie Girling, Robert Girling's wife, said they received a notice from the city two weeks ago that their water use was too high. She said they are talking to crews who handle their landscaping and plan to significantly reduce the amount of water being used."I have tried to change things since I got the notice," said Bettie Girling, a noted philanthropist who said she spent most of the past six months in the hospital recovering from a medical procedure. "We intend to be within the City of Austin guidelines, and I think the environment is very important. We know that water is going to become the new oil."The Girlings used 141,300 gallons at their almost-an-acre property.Although Austin's biggest residential water customers used significant amounts, Strub cautioned against blaming them for Austin's water needs."If you subtract their numbers, it doesn't make much of a dent" in how much water Austin consumes, Strub said. "Although that does not excuse extremely high levels of usage."Judy Grigsby said the utility costs at her Northwest Austin home had been creeping up for more than two years. She said that an inspector had fixed two broken sprinkler heads and a busted pipe and that the 3-acre property kept her too busy to follow up."We tried different ways to keep our bills down," she said, "but just assumed that various things, like having guests for a few weeks, were causing" the rising bills, which reached $1,050 in June. "Hopefully, it's a broken pipe, and that will be the end of it."She said she will call the city to check. Strub said a broken pipe could be the cause.Investment manager Mischa Deeter said he thought the water bills were high when he moved into his West Austin rental but said that it was his first home with a lawn. He assumed that keeping it watered while maintaining a pool was pricey.He said that his bills are paid automatically each month and that he never saw that he had used 151,500 gallons in June."I didn't know we were using so much," he said. "I don't use much water (inside the house), and we're having an inspector come out to check for a leak."Attorney Carolyn Beckett, who used more water in June than every Austinite except Armstrong, said her bills had been steadily climbing for a year. But, she said, between her busy travel schedule and work, she hadn't had time to look closely at them.She wasn't shocked, she said, by the $1,260 water charge that arrived as part of her bill but thought it could only get that high because of a broken pipe somewhere at her approximately quarter-acre home."I don't even have a sprinkler system," she said, "because the yard isn't big enough for one."Strub said a broken pipe probably isn't the reason Beckett's bill is so high. He said the city has repeatedly asked Beckett to cut down on her water use.Beckett is the only one of Austin's top 10 water users whose home doesn't have a swimming pool.1.55 millionGallons of water — enough to fill an enclosed football field 31/2 feet deep — used by the top 10 residential water consumers in Austin.135,400Gallons of water used by No. 10 on the list: Jerry Jeff Walker.8,500Gallons of water used monthly by the average residential consumer.

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